Hola amigos! This week we're asking: who's watching the money? We're talking cash flow, forecasting, and when human judgment matters most.

Our LinkedIn Crush celebrates lifestyle over revenue; our Cringe is creepy outreach.

AI can gather data, analyze historical performance, and support forecasting. But should it handle invoices and financial decisions without human oversight? Not so fast.

Mila: Even if software generates your P&L and balance sheet, you still need to check the numbers. Data can go missing, systems fail to sync, and automation doesn't guarantee accuracy.

AI can also be too agreeable: a founder convinced they're making 60% profit might get validation instead of the uncomfortable truth. These decisions affect people, morale, clients, and culture. AI can help, but humans must challenge assumptions and make tough calls.

Mila: I spoke to an agency owner who claimed 60% profit while struggling to make the business profitable. Almost all that profit went towards repaying the loan used to buy the business. Future profitability is lovely, but you can't spend money you don't have.

We discuss the four forces of cash flow from Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits: pay taxes, repay debt, build a core capital reserve, and only then distribute profits. That reserve should cover at least three months of operating expenses, giving you time to course-correct.

The lesson: don't tell yourself a nicer story than your numbers support.

This week's story comes from a content marketing agency that went from thriving to running in the red. As clients dwindled, the company kept spending on perks, conferences, and offsites, while the person handling finances made basic calculation errors. Management said there was no money for a fractional finance professional. Exactly the problem!

An operations person alone won't fix your finances. Someone needs the expertise and backbone to challenge the CEO and question spending.

Mila: More revenue doesn't automatically mean you need more people. Sometimes you need better operations, pricing, scope, or capacity planning.

Forecasting is the unglamorous hero: track numbers early and stop treating your bank balance as your financial strategy.

Have an agency horror story about money or nobody taking responsibility for the numbers? Send it our way. We're one story away.

00:04 Hola amigos!
01:48 LinkedIn Crush: Indie Agency Report
02:43 What founders call success
05:50 LinkedIn Cringe: Creepy outreach
09:38 Who's watching the money?
10:27 Kids with a Wallet begins
11:23 The 60% profit illusion
13:32 The four forces of cash flow
14:40 Building a rainy-day fund
17:02 Confession Booth begins
17:35 An agency spending its way into the red
19:57 Why a finance expert matters
22:00 Revenue, costs, and efficiency
23:30 Scaling without scaling headcount
26:07 The bank balance as a metric
26:58 Why forecasting matters
29:04 AI Obsession begins
30:39 Human oversight and accuracy
31:33 Can software replace a CFO?
33:44 Why AI needs a reality check
35:17 AI, tough decisions, and people
37:51 Share your agency horror stories
38:16 Outro

TL;DR
Workaholic founders, the cobra effect, and a laptop opened at the top of a mountain.

Hola amigos! Ditching grind culture is no easy feat, especially for founders who wear their workaholic tendencies like a badge of honor. This week on The Agency Horror Show, we took on the founder who can’t switch off, and what it costs them, their team, and their business.

AI was supposed to give us our time back. Instead, we’re shipping more, faster, around the clock.

Mila: A reflection from my mentor Itai has stuck with me:

“The fact that AI can ship more doesn’t mean that we have to ship more.”

It reminds me of the cobra effect: pay a bounty for dead cobras and people start farming cobras. AI is doing the same to our time.

Treating your job as your hobby sends the wrong signal to your team.

“Your brain needs it. Period.” (Mila)

Pilar: As a former workaholic, I can tell you this pressure doesn’t appear overnight. Start by asking why you’re running this business in the first place.

Takeaway: if creativity strikes on a Sunday, take Monday back.

Workaholic founders usually measure success in revenue and team size. Mila has started asking how we’re measuring success and plans to add it to her discovery calls.

“One founder told me, ‘I’m measuring my success as an agency by whether my team is happy or not.’ I find that really inspiring.” (Pilar)

Pilar: Companies like Patagonia show that slow, sustainable growth is possible. We both think we’re at the end of an era, and more people are choosing enough over the ladder.

“The best thing about founding your own thing is you get to set the rules.” (Pilar)

Mila: a founder who proudly said he loves that his employee will reply at 3 a.m. I cried on the inside.

Pilar: a founder who finally took the weekend off to hike a mountain, then:

“I got to the summit, opened my laptop, turned on my hotspot and started closing tasks.”

Mila’s (very serious) advice:

“It’s not cute, it’s not attractive. You have a problem.”

00:00 Intro and a Happy Friday
00:20 LinkedIn Crush, Cringe and Crash
00:38 Cringe: “Hinge-In” and the windmill beach photos
02:37 Crush: PAAW, the for-profit dog rehoming company
04:15 Why dog and cat photos belong on LinkedIn
04:55 Today’s theme: workaholic founders
05:50 AI Obsession: workaholism across cultures
06:50 “My job is my hobby” and the message it sends
09:12 Why agencies replicate the corporate pressure
09:50 Pilar’s story as a former workaholic
11:33 When the agency becomes the founder’s identity
12:44 The micromanaging workaholic and AI’s inhumane pace
15:07 The cobra effect: AI saves time, we ship more
17:01 Kids with a Wallet: how founders measure success
17:54 Revenue and team size vs. profit
19:50 Adding “How do you measure success?” to discovery calls
21:42 The “grow uncontrollably” narrative and Patagonia
23:52 Founders choosing team happiness over revenue
24:42 The end of an era: “enough” over the ladder
26:59 You get to set the rules
28:17 Submit your agency horror story
29:00 Confession Booth: the most unhinged moments
29:40 “I can message them at 3 a.m. and they’ll reply”
30:22 The weekend off that ended at a mountain summit
32:00 Wrap-up and outro

Keywords: AI, agencies, future of work, automation, agency of the future, AI roles, agency culture, profitability, automation tools, creative work

Topics:

• AI boosting agency revenue and profitability
• The impact of AI on staffing and roles
• The concept of AI-native operators and juniors
• Long-term agency culture and structure in the AI era
• The importance of human judgment and creativity
• The risks of over-reliance on automation
• The future of agency differentiation and competitive advantage

Takeaways:

• Most agencies see AI as a revenue booster without firing staff, indicating a complementary role.
• The concept of AI-native roles suggests new opportunities for juniors to manage and oversee AI tools.
• Long-term success depends on balancing automation with human judgment and creativity.
• Agencies need to define their long-term vision and adapt roles accordingly, rather than jumping on AI trends blindly.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and episode overview

02:08 Research findings on AI's impact on agencies

03:51 The AI boomerang: companies returning to hiring

06:11 The evolving roles of juniors and operators in AI era

07:59 The challenge of defining clear AI strategies

09:57 Manual work, judgment, and the limits of AI

12:05 AI's role in operations and cost reduction

14:01 Differentiating creative agencies in an AI world

15:57 The importance of experience and judgment

18:12 Training and upskilling in AI for agency teams

20:00 The future agency models: AI-powered vs. human-centric

21:52 Deciding whether to build or buy AI capabilities

23:56 Long-term investment in AI skills and culture

25:51 The importance of strategic planning and vision

28:01 The cost and profit implications of AI adoption

29:51 The future agency of the next 6 months to years

32:11 The role of human creativity and oversight

34:01 Audience engagement: What will the agency of the future look like?

Hola amigos! If you’ve ever worked with or at an agency, you know the landscape can be both thrilling and chaotic. Welcome to the first episode of The Agency Horror Show, hosted by Mila and Pilar, where we dive into the behind-the-scenes stories and lessons learned from the agency world.

The Love-Hate Relationship with Agencies

Mila and Pilar kick off the podcast by acknowledging their own experiences. They share how working in agencies feels like a rollercoaster ride, filled with scrappy beginnings and a plethora of mistakes.

"We keep saying we have this love-hate relationship with agencies... they're scrappy, they're fun, but there are a lot of mistakes that happen while creating an agency." — Pilar

Their mission? To talk about these experiences openly and help others avoid the pitfalls they've encountered.

Transparency Over Perfection

Mila reflects on her departure from a traditional agency job and her struggles with marketing herself in a world dominated by polished LinkedIn profiles. In her words, LinkedIn has become a space where everyone seems to portray a perfect career trajectory, leaving little room for honest discussions about failures and challenges.

"It feels like everyone is an expert... and like no one has any fails." — Mila

The podcast aims to create a space where real conversations about agency life can flourish—where listeners can share their stories without fear.

Meet Your Hosts

Pilar, originally from Argentina and now living between Argentina and Spain, brings over 12 years of experience in project management and operations within agencies.
Mila, also from Argentina, has a diverse background in account management, marketing, and finance, emphasizing her passion for understanding agency financials.

Together, they form a dynamic duo, ready to share insights and stories from their journey in the agency world.

What to Expect

The podcast will feature three segments that offer a mix of discussion and listener interaction:

1. AI Obsession: Exploring how AI is reshaping the agency landscape, both positively and negatively.

2. Kids with a Wallet: A finance-focused segment discussing how agencies manage their revenue and the often chaotic decisions that come with it.

3. Confession Booth: An open floor for listeners to share their own experiences, ensuring that no story goes unheard.

As they wrap up the trailer, Mila and Pilar invite everyone to join in on the conversation, promising a blend of insights, laughter, and maybe a few horror stories along the way.

Have an Agency Horror Story to confess?